


one is silver

by The_Plaid_Slytherin



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Older Sansa Stark, Post-Canon, Reunions, Winterfell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28208382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/pseuds/The_Plaid_Slytherin
Summary: Sansa cannot refuse a man bread and salt.
Relationships: Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47
Collections: Writing Rainbow Silver





	one is silver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Etnoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etnoe/gifts).



"There's a man at the gates, my lady. He looks rough. Should I send him on his way?" 

Sansa looked up from her account books to find Donnis in the doorway of her solar. "The hospitality of the Lord of Winterfell extends to all, even men who may look rough." 

The young guard looked at her doubtfully. 

She rose, closing her book. "If you are worried about him making off with the silver, that is long gone with the Ironborn. In winter, we take all comers." 

As she made her way down to the gates, she was conscious of Winterfell's still-crumbling state. The Ironborn and the Boltons had done it no kindness, and while King Stannis had won it back for her brother, he had had no obligation to fix it more than was necessary to defend it from enemies living and dead. Now it fell to Sansa, while Rickon was still too young, and she did not feel up to the task. 

Every room and corridor reminded her of her girlhood and what she'd lost; her parents and siblings were in every stone, on every half-burnt tapestry. Of course, she still had Rickon and Arya, though Arya was often away. 

She took a deep breath and smoothed her dress. Rickon was at lessons or she would have called him down to greet the stranger and give his hospitality as Lord of Winterfell.

He was sitting by the guard post, just inside the gates, head down as snow began to fall. Sansa stopped mid-step as she recognized the man's horse. 

_All horses look alike_ , she reminded herself and forced herself forward. 

"On behalf of the Lord of Winterfell, I offer you bread and salt, provided you mean no harm to our castle or its inhabitants." 

When he stood and turned, she knew who it would be, but it was still like a dream. 

"I mean no harm," said Sandor Clegane, "but the Lord of Winterfell would be in his right to turn me away." 

"The Lord of Winterfell never turns away a man in need." Sansa did not know how she was able to keep her voice so even. 

"Is that so?" His smile was more of a grimace. It transported her instantly back to that night, though she liked the look of him better when bathed in the silvery light of the fading winter sun on new-fallen snow, rather than the sickening green of that night. "Did you ask him?" 

"I speak for him." 

Sandor laughed. "Where's that sister of yours? We didn't part on the best terms." 

"Hunting." Sansa turned to lead the way into the keep. He followed half a step behind, like a dog. She stopped so he would walk beside her. "And I recall, neither did we." He'd taken a song and a kiss, but she wasn't sure about that, now. 

"That was why I asked if you were sure." 

"I am sure." 

She was afraid to ask where he was bound, and she distracted herself by calling for food for him. "You have come a long way for a man who was afraid of being refused." 

"Well, if I was." He shrugged. "I'd deserve it." 

She sat and watched him eat, aware that it wasn't very ladylike and that she had work she could have been doing, but she found she didn't want to leave him. What if she returned to find him gone? What if this was a dream, too? 

"Where are you going?" she made herself ask. If he was making a stop on his way, let him go so she would not get her hopes up. 

"I was going north," he said. "As far north as I could get. And then I remembered this bloody great castle and thought I might stop." 

"It is fortunate you did. It is a long way to the Wall." 

He grinned. She decided she liked this, too, in the soft light of the hall. "The little bird has a spine." 

"A bird has to if it flies north for the winter." 

He laughed, and this time, when he kissed her, she was sure.


End file.
